This invention relates to lids for cups, and especially to lids that enable the holder to drink from the cup without removing the entire lid.
In today""s rushed world, the sight of people hurrying down the sidewalk drinking coffee or other beverages from takeout plastic, paper or styrofoam cups has become commonplace. An essential element in making such drinking on the run enjoyable is the development of cup lids, made from plastic or other suitable materials, that clip onto the rim of the cup and partially or completely seal the cup to prevent the liquid inside from easily spilling. Such lids have a sip opening through which the liquid in the cup can be accessed, with the sip opening being either a permanent opening or initially covered by a tear-away portion that is displaced to permit sipping from the cup. The relatively small size of the sip opening acts to reduce the possibility of spilling the liquid, as opposed to the case when no lid is provided.
One difficulty remaining in making such drinking on the run as pleasant as possible is that the coffee is usually served while very hot, with the presence of the lid helping to keep the coffee inside hot by preventing it from cooling down at anything other than a slow rate. While this heat retention is advantageous after the coffee has reached an acceptable temperature, it is frustrating to the drinker who may want to start drinking right away. Moreover, different drinkers will have their own ideal temperatures for drinking. As a result, the drinker often keeps taking experimental sips, scalding lips and tongue until the coffee is drinkable, and often consuming a goodly quantity of the coffee in its overheated condition.
Two ways to accelerate the cooling process would be to make the sip opening larger or to remove the lid completely until the coffee has cooled down sufficiently. However, this would not only increase the possibility of spillage, but would also make all of the coffee in the cup cool down more quickly. In that case, while the first sips might be at the right temperature, the remaining coffee would still cool down slowly so that the final sips of coffee would be undesirably cold.
Still further, although the cup lid could be made disposable for takeout, the cups and cup lids could be made non-disposable, as for example with thermos-type hot or cold drink cups. In either case, requiring the lid to be removed for cooling can be inconvenient and presents the risk of misplacing the lid or exposing it to dirt and germs.
It is an important consideration to correct these difficulties using a lid design so that any extra cost incurred will be acceptable to both sellers and buyers of the cups and lids.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lid for a cup that avoids the above-discussed difficulties of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lid for a cup, such as a takeout coffee cup, that enables a small portion of the hot liquid inside to be cooled rapidly for immediate drinking while the remainder of the liquid is kept hot.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a lid that provides at least the same protection against spillage as conventional lids.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a lid that uses conventional design to the extent possible.
The above objects, as well as additional advantages, will be realized in the practice of the invention as herein described. In its broadest embodiment, the lid for a cup having a rim comprises a first component having a sip opening, the sip opening being located on the first component so as to be adjacent the rim of the cup when the lid is mounted on the cup. The lid further comprises a second component having an edge defining at least a portion of a perimeter of a spill opening, the spill opening being spaced from the sip opening substantially along a line corresponding to a diameter of the rim of the cup when the lid is mounted on the cup. The lid still further comprises a spillover chamber connected to the second component so as to receive liquid from within the cup through the spill opening when the cup is tipped toward the spill opening, the spillover chamber being outside of the cup when the lid is mounted on the cup. Finally, the lid comprises a transfer structure providing a path to transfer liquid from the spillover chamber to the sip opening when the cup is tipped toward the sip opening, the transfer structure including a barrier to prevent transfer of liquid from within the cup to the sip opening without passing through the spillover chamber in any tipping position of the cup.
In another embodiment, a lid for a cup comprises an upper component having a sip opening, and a lower component having an edge defining at least a portion of a perimeter of a spill opening and a spillover chamber open to the spill opening, wherein the spillover chamber is positioned on the lid so as to be outside of the cup when the lid is mounted on the cup. When the lower component is attached to the upper component with the spill opening substantially spaced peripherally from the sip opening, the upper component and the lower component define a cavity therebetween allowing liquid to flow in a selected one only of first and second paths depending upon a tipping direction of the lid, wherein the first path is from the spill opening to the spillover chamber and the second path is from the spillover chamber to the sip opening.
In a further development of the present invention, a method of drinking from a cup having one of the above-described lids mounted thereon comprises the steps of first tipping the cup toward the spill opening so that liquid in an interior of the cup flows through the spill opening to the spillover chamber, and subsequently tipping the cup toward the sip opening so that liquid in the spillover chamber flows to the sip opening.
In any of these embodiments, the two components may be permanently attached or removably attachable, the two components may be manufactured separately or as a unit, or the spillover chamber may be an integral part of the cup.